Book 1: Prologue

It was evening, the time when shadows grew longer as the glaring sun slowly set beyond the horizon. The roads now released the heat they had absorbed during the day back into the air. It would be another uncomfortably warm night.

This was K City’s K district, where the above scene was commonplace.

The city station was surrounded by skyscrapers, each hosting a myriad of companies. Situated on the 4th floor of one of these buildings was K Softworks, a mid-sized software company.

In the cool air-conditioned office, several men stared silently at their monitor screens. An intense atmosphere filled the air. These were K Softworks employees. Their daily workload was heavy for a mid-sized company, but the load today was exceptional.

"We have 3 days left to complete it..."

A man sitting at one end of the office mumbled with a hint of despair. He was currently battling with a time bomb ticking down with every passing second—also known as a deadline. Due to the downturn in the national economy, the anxious sales team had grudgingly accepted a contract even though the demands were unreasonable. Even during the planning phase, the project this man managed had little room for error. Repeated failures made things ever more perilous, resulting in a situation that could only be described as “hellish”. Making matters even worse, more and more pressing issues kept coming up.

"Section Chief Nakai! Sato is down! He's not reacting even when we splash him with water!"

"Section Chief Nakai! We won't make it in time if we don't finish the coding today."

"...Nakai-san, Takeda's desk has a resignation letter on it..."

"Ah—Shut up! How can we meet the deadline with things like this—!"

Pushed into a corner by a string of bad news, Section Chief Nakai finally broke down. He hugged his head and rested it on his table.

He knew there was no time to waste, but he lacked the manpower to finish the task…without any solutions to the looming deadline, his psyche was pushed to the breaking point.

"Nakai-san."

"What is it now!?"

He raised his head after hearing someone address him. A man with a gentle smile appeared before his eyes.

"I’ve finished the case on my side and am ready to assist you."

"Oh...Kurata...are you fine with joining in?"

The pain on Nakai's face was swept away, as if he had seen a ray of light in the midst of despair.

"I’ve browsed through the specification manual and gotten the gist of the situation. Can you let me handle progress management?"

"Of...Of course. I might as well give you my password so you can flip through the management folders, too. Please take care of it all."

"Eh, Nakai-san, I can't manage all that… erm, the coding parts are slowing down progress, let me settle this..."

The man speaking with Nakai— Kurata Tsubasa, sat down in a chair prepared by a colleague and started working immediately. He typed code into a text editor, read the progress reports and flipped through the specification manual, all the while giving instructions to the colleagues around him.

"Ensure the testing machine is operational. Test analysts, please take this opportunity to rest. Erm, we’ll begin intensive testing after 12. For coding...Tatsu-san, can you complete 2 modules? Yes, I’ll do the other 10. Kiba, there are some weird parts in the specification manual, please amend it and resume testing."

He was only 28 years old and considered part of the younger generation within the workplace, but no one questioned his instructions. It was because of his track record within this company. His addition to the team managed to instill life into the half-dead workers, all of whom quickly carried out his instructions. Kurata had a unique nickname: the Last Line of Defense. Now that he was on the case, it meant the end of the job was in sight. Humans were realistic creatures. If they could see the end, they could endure the situation no matter how tough it was.

"Alright, that should do it. I’ll start coding."

"Hey, Kurata, will you be fine? 10 modules...that’s no laughing matter."

"Nakai-san, did you forget? Programming is my actual profession."

With his eyes half closed, Kurata revealed a fearless smile on his gentle face. All 10 of his fingers started dancing at a frightening speed across the keyboard. He typed code into multiple open text editors, going through the data at a torrential pace. The mature man sitting opposite him, Tatsu, threw himself into his work the moment he heard the amazing typing sound.

"As expected of the ‘Last Line of Defense’ for the company. He’s been handling all the troubling cases so far...I have to keep up."

With everyone putting their heart into their work, the outlook of the sluggish battle improved dramatically.

♦ ♦ ♦

The radio broadcast announced the time. The clock on the wall indicated it was 5:15pm—time to get off work. According to company policy, working hours had ended, but Kurata simply stretched his back and rotated his tired shoulders.

He had spent the last three days salvaging this case. Today was the dreaded deadline, but the atmosphere was no longer as desperate as it was three days prior. The case everyone had thought hopeless had been rescued by his expert hands.

Thanks to him finishing the program in one day and the team members testing and recoding without rest, they had managed to barely finish the product before the deadline. Even though Kurata had finished so much work in such a short amount of time, he had also managed each part perfectly. It was a miraculous talent beyond comprehension. Sadly, his skill was outstanding because he was always handed the troubling cases.

After the series of battles, empty cans of coffee and energy drinks had piled up like gravestones on his desk. Glancing side to side, he could see the warriors (test analysts) who had finished the hard battle collapsed on beds made out of chairs, all smiling peacefully. Kurata had reduced his sleeping hours to the bare minimum and felt it was time to rest as well.

"Alright, the client acknowledged the receipt of the product! We’re done! Great news everyone! Now we can rest easy!"

Kurata woke from his half-asleep state and saw the elated Nakai in a victory pose. He thought about going home to rest, but decided to nap for a while. When he was ready to go home, it was already time for the last train.

Several days after the death march, the end of the month arrived. When talking about the end of the month, there was only one thought on people’s minds—the gospel of all working adults, payday.

Kurata turned off the computer and hurriedly prepared to leave. He was not alone. His colleagues were also leaving. Conforming to popular trends, companies had reduced the working hours of office workers. There was an obligation to let their staff leave on time, especially on payday This obligation was often overlooked when things got hectic, but compared to the hellish time just a few days before, things were much more relaxed now.

Today was a happy Friday. Some rushed to meet their families, while others met up with their friends and got ready to splurge. There were also some who just wanted to rest at home. Everybody was different, but having their highly anticipated payday coincide with the weekend was always a happy occasion.

It was the same for Kurata. Several colleagues who had gone through the death march gathered at his side.

"Kurata, want to get a drink? You were a big help, so the first one is on me."

Nakai made a drinking gesture. The people related to the case, like Tatsu and Kiba, stood behind him. Kurata was about to join them, but he remembered his planned schedule and hesitated.

"Ah—Sorry, Nakai-san. I have an engagement. Maybe next time."

"Nakai-san, today is the day. Kurata's hobby..."

"Oh...that. Can't be helped then. Don't skip out next time."

"Okay."

Kurata watched the group leave before heading toward his destination as well. The young, talented man known as the "Last Line of Defense", a person everyone in the company depended on,, had a unique hobby well-known within the company.

On this weekend, the streets were, humid with the summer heat and crowded with office workers getting off work. The way to the station was jammed with people. Only after walking some distance did the traffic get smoother.

"Over! Time! Pay! Get!"

Kurata yelled in front of the ATM. If he had done that in front of a manned counter, he would probably have been reported to the police for acting suspiciously.

His emotion stemmed from the cold figures displayed on the ATM screen. The cases he handled were usually red-flagged and dangerous, but his efforts were rewarded in the form of overtime pay, so his savings steadily increased.

Unable to stop smiling, Kurata withdrew some cash and hurried toward his destination. His movements contained no hesitation, a sign he had traveled this route many times. Soon, a building appeared in front of him. It was a major electronics shopping center near the train station. A huge toy department was on the 3rd floor—that was his goal.

♦ ♦ ♦

A few hours later, a man left the toy department accompanied by the store’s closing music.

"As expected of the end-of-month sale. This is great."

The man carried two full bags in each hand, each double-layered to prevent tearing. His backpack also bulged in a strange shape. His bags were filled with plastic models. In other words, he was a model nerd.

"Surfacer, paint and tools have been resupplied...the model-building festival shall begin..."

In his hectic lifestyle, the shopping spree on payday and the model-building festival were his biggest joys. Maybe his dull and normal lifestyle was taking a toll on him, but the amount of models he purchased increased with every passing year. Now, it had finally become a monthly habit. He was completely addicted.

Wearing a silly smile, he happily walked home with his bags. The apartment he lived in was some distance away from the company, with the station in between. He needed to go out of his way to visit the electronics shopping center, but it was not a big deal since he got what he was after. Kurata made his way past the quiet residential zone, humming joyfully. The traffic was very light at this hour.

The sound of an engine broke the silence as oncoming headlights blocked his vision. Blinded by the far-off lights, he hurried to the side of the road. The road was relatively wide, but it would be bad if the bags broke. Kurata frowned on the usage of high beams in a residential area, but he decided to pay it no mind and continued walking.

The dazzling headlights fatally slowed his reactions. The car continued coming straight at him with no sign of slowing down, showing no intention of avoiding him. By the time he realized it, it was too late for him to move aside.

"Hey, wait..."

The roar of the engine reverberated in his ears as the lights flooded his vision. A chill ran down his back.

He could not get out of the way. The car collided with him while he hugged his bags. At the moment of impact, he heard his body make a frightening sound. While his body flew through the air, all sorts of emotions flashed through his mind in the moment before he lost consciousness from the immense pain. But he did not see his life flash before his eyes or curse his luck.

Ah, I can't build the models I just bought or the series of models that will be released next month. Such a shame...!

In his mind was his passion for the models he would no longer be able to assemble anymore.

♦ ♦ ♦

"— This just in.

Around 10pm tonight, a car struck a man in K City’s S District. The victim was an office worker residing in the area, Kurata Tsubasa (28). An ambulance was dispatched after a resident made a report, but the paramedics failed to resuscitate the victim. According to the police investigation, the suspect was driving under the influence—"